Wards
by Madame Puddifoot
Summary: “Don’t you have plans?” “They can wait.” Short pieces examining various moments in Draco and Ginny’s unorthodox relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Wards  
Rating: T  
Genre: Romance  
Summary: "Don't you have plans?" "They can wait." A short piece examining a night in Draco and Ginny's unorthodox relationship. One-shot

* * *

The first time it happened was during one of those long pauses in an argument that was meant to be a long pause but was often mistaken as a sign to do something stupid by teenagers.

Back then, Draco and Ginny were young and didn't know better.

Now, they were older and they should have known better. But they had fallen into a pattern that they were unable to break out of. Whenever lonely, one would owl the other for company. And in a post-Voldemort world, there was plenty of loneliness to go around. There were plenty of friends and family who had fallen on both sides.

Ginny had lost considerably more considering that her family was at the eye of the storm. However, it had been years since then. As time moved on, so did Draco and Ginny's relationship. Initially based on desperation and loneliness, their relationship transformed into one of comfort and familiarity. Despite their progress, they had never told anyone about their relationship or come out into the open.

Ginny despised her reliance on the young Malfoy but indulged in it anyways. Whenever she was actually involved with someone she would try to avoid him but more often than not she fell for her weakness. As far as she knew, Draco did not allow the same honor to his women but that was not Ginny's problem.

And Ginny knew that she had a problem. She knew that their relationship was decidedly unhealthy. And she knew that she couldn't stop. Not now. Perhaps when she was stronger.

But his kisses were drugging and simply the feel of his weight on her body was a secret pleasure she was unwilling to give up.

Ginny sealed her short letter and attached it to her small tawny owl.

She sat down at the table and picked up a magazine. Surely enough, in the center of the society pages was a picture of Draco Malfoy entering a restaurant with Cho Chang hanging off his arm.

Ginny could have sworn that he began dating Cho simply to annoy her. Cho was a chaser for the Montrose Magpies and Ginny's well known rival. While they were somewhat considered rivals in school due to their respective relationships with Harry Potter and Michael Corner, they were better known for being bitter rivals on the field and the leaders of their respective teams. Ginny supposed it stroked Draco's ego to know that he could sleep with the two leading women in Quidditch.

While Ginny knew she had a bit of inferiority complex about Cho, she had no malice towards her.

She tossed the magazine aside and picked up her dirty dish to carry it over to her sink.

It was Friday night and considering that Ginny had just broken up with a nice man who was just a little too nice, her plans were to stay in, maybe do a little reading and take care of the ever-growing pile of dishes in her sink. She picked up the first plate and rinsed it off. She squirted some soap onto the plate. Soon enough she had fallen into a rhythm. Rinse, lather, rinse, set on rack.

A loud popping noise, broke her out of her rhythm but she continued to work refusing to allow it to throw her off.

She already knew who it was as only one person was allowed to apparate within her wards. Ginny relished her privacy so her family and friends could apparate outside the building and walk up three flights to knock on her door. Unfortunately, a Malfoy knocking on her door would only lead to questions and then trouble, something she didn't need.

She heard him take off his cloak and set it on a chair before he approached her from behind. He placed his hands at her waist where her shirt ended and her jeans began. Ginny shivered slightly at the contact. He dipped his index finger underneath her shirt and slowly stroked her skin.

"You rang?" He said, his face lowered into her neck as his lips grazed her skin.

Ginny tilted her neck slightly, allowing the contact. She continued to rinse off the plate in her hand.

"I did. But I assumed you'd be dropping by later tonight"

"It is later"

"Don't you have plans?"

"I do."

"And?"

"They can wait." At this he patiently took the plate out of her hand and put it to the side. Ginny attempted to dry her hands off with a dishtowel and turned around facing him for the first time in a week. She looked at his face, but only for a second as his head immediately bent to her neck as his hands cupped her lower back.

He nibbled softly on her neck, but despite her earlier words Ginny was quite impatient.

It had been a long week.

She sought out his lips with her own and kissed him with force. Draco responded back and let his weight fall on her, pushing her into the kitchen sink. Her back dug painfully into the counter but Ginny barely felt it. She pulled off his shirt and wrapped her arms around his neck. Pushing off from the sink she lead him towards her bedroom, their lips connected the entire time.

***********

An hour later, Ginny was lying on her stomach reveling in the afterglow. She felt content. Draco laid next to her with his arms crossed behind his head. Ginny turned her head to look at his profile. She couldn't see his eyes but she noticed the small smile that hung on his lips. He sat up and looked around the room, taking stock of his clothes which were strewn all around the room.

"You've got plans." She reminded him.

"I've got plans." He stood up and reached for his pants.

"With Cho?" Ginny attempted to keep any derision out of her voice as she moved onto her back and gathered the covers around her. She could still feel his smirk when he responded

"Yes, with Cho. Is that okay with you, Madame Weasley?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

He paused buttoning his pants and leaned over to give her a soft kiss. He straightened up and said,

"Don't worry, we're not serious." He buckled his belt. He left the bedroom to go put on his shirt and cloak which had been abandoned in the kitchen.

"_Neither are we." _Ginny thought as she wrapped the bedsheets around her tightly and stood up to bid him goodnight.

**********

After Draco left, Ginny popped into the shower and then quickly changed into an old shirt of Ron's she had stolen the last time she was at the Burrow. This particular shirt had a large Puddlemere United logo on the front, which was chipped and faded from one too many washes.

She poured herself a cup of tea and climbed into bed with the latest novel by Lavender Brown. Despite her seemingly flighty ways, Lavender had proved herself to be a proficient mystery writer over the years and had a big following. This new book had been released a few weeks ago and Ginny finally had time to sit down and read it.

She climbed into bed and settled in for a comfortable Friday night. 97 pages in, the heroine slowly began to open the door to the abandoned castle when,—

*POP*

Ginny shrieked and grabbed her wand pointing it right at her supposed attacker. Upon coming to her senses, she saw a slightly damp Draco with his hand sweeping water off of his head. He looked up at her raised wand and asked,

"What are you doing?"

Ginny sighed in relief, "You scared me half to death. What are you even doing here?"

"Cho decided that we should take a break."

"Did she?" Ginny asked as she put her wand back on the nightstand, attempting not to smile too much.

"She thought I wasn't taking things seriously."

Ginny smirked and asked, "Were you?"

"Not even a little bit" he replied as he shook off his damp cloak and put it on the chair. He began to take off his shirt which was also wet.

"There are towels in the closet" She directed. He left to grab one. She raised her voice so that he would hear her in the hall way.

"Don't expect me to console you." She stated as she picked her book back up and resumed reading.

"I don't need consoling. I'm just going to bed."

"Excuse me?"

"What?" he asked as he dried off his hair.

"What's wrong with Malfoy Manor? Too drafty?"

"It's not drafty, it's pleasantly cool."

Ginny scoffed. She had been to his manor. It was definitely drafty.

"And we've got a massive Doxy infestation in the east wing" He continued, ignoring her. "The house elves should be taking care of it for me but as I'm a big fan of my toes I'll be staying here for a few days."

"It's nice that you cleared it with me beforehand" Ginny said sarcastically. "Don't you have someone else to stay with?"

"Not really. Plus it's much more fun to stay and bother you. I think you can console much better than Zabini or Crabbe."

Ginny ignored his last statement and returned to her book. She felt Draco climb into bed and find a comfortable spot.

As Ginny came to a good part in the book where the heroine began to duel her arch nemesis and sometimes lover, Draco interrupted.

"A disarming spell? I can think of literally a thousand other spells she could have used"

Ginny looked up, just now noticing his presence, to see him reading intently over her shoulder. She wondered how she had missed his proximity.

"So impractical" he murmured.

"Don't knock it till you try it" she stated, turning the page.

"Well you're the expert."

He paused and then continued "Who is this Blake fellow? One second he's telling her how she's the love of his life and then he's attacking her."

Ginny sighed, "You're not going to let me read this, are you?"

"What are you talking about? And do you mind flipping back a few pages, I think I need some back story."

Ginny rubbed her eyes and closed the book.

"Hey! I was reading that," she heard Draco exclaim. Yet she ignored him and used her wand to turn off the lights.

"Good night, Draco" she laid back down with her back to him.

"G'night." He replied.

To Ginny's surprise he snaked his arms around her and gently pulled her so that she was rested against his front and they were in the middle of the bed. Ginny allowed the close contact. His still damp hair brushed against the back of her neck as he nuzzled her. She let herself get comfortable as sleep crept upon her.

She murmured softly, "You know one of these days, I'm going to change my wards."

"Hmm." He replied.

They both knew she wouldn't.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Wards  
Rating: PG  
Genre: Romance  
Summary: "Don't you have plans?" "They can wait." Short pieces examining various moments within Draco and Ginny's unorthodox relationship.

* * *

Chapter 2

After a long day of work, Ginny fumbled for her keys and opened the door, glad to be out of the unforgiving cold. Well-attuned to the wards that she placed around her apartment, upon entering she immediately felt a presence in her house. Quickly realizing who it was, she took her time in stamping the snow off and easing the boots from her sore feet. She moved into her kitchen and laid her cloak and scarf on a nearby chair, then walked over to her fridge and peered inside. She picked out a pint of Rosmerta's new mead and took a long gulp. It was strong enough to make her head swim almost immediately and she enjoyed the feeling.

Taking swigs of the mead as she went, she walked over to her owl and gave him an owl treat. He hopped off his perch, cuddled up to her neck and hooted appreciatively. She always forgot how lonely Oliver got in her absence. She stroked him a few times to show she'd missed him and he fluttered back to his perch.

Deciding she couldn't put off the inevitable, she walked over to her bedroom and leaned against the doorframe. She took another swig of the delicious mead and saw him sitting in the middle of her bed and under the covers, as if he owned the place. His back rested against the headboard and he had a book open on his knees.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

He looked up, unsurprised, with a glint in his eyes, and ignored her question. "She may have been an annoying bint in school, but Lavender Brown definitely knows how to write. Do you know I've been here for a few hours and I've barely put down this book?"

"You've been here for a few hours?" Ginny mused.

"Well, I'm trying to figure out why she keeps going to this Blake fellow when Crispin is obviously the better choice. Blake keeps tying her up in his dungeon. Who has a dungeon in their basement anyway?"

"Don't you have a dungeon?"

"Correction: my father had a dungeon."

"In the house that you now live in?"

"Er, maybe," Draco said with a slight smile on his face.

"I'll take that as a yes. So you do have a house, right? Somewhere to live and call your own?"

"Of course."

"So what are you doing here?"

"Well, you were right. Malfoy Manor does get rather drafty."

"I'm sure."

She pushed off from the door and moved towards the bed. Wordlessly, she offered her drink to him and he took it from her and took a sip.

He squinted at the drink and asked, "A bit strong for you, isn't it?"

"I'd say it's not strong enough. Rosemerta's been working on a stronger mead and she let me have some of the first batch."

"Of course it's not strong enough for you, mountain man," Draco said with a grin. He was accustomed to Ginny's abnormally high tolerance for alcohol. She attributed it to drinking regularly with George and Charlie, but that didn't mean Draco wouldn't make fun of her for it.

"Oh, shut up!" Ginny laughed and moved to the space on the bed close to him. She peered at the page he was on and almost squealed, "Oh! This is the good part!"

"I'd say!"

"You would say! She's not wearing a bra for the next fifteen pages."

"Well, to be honest, I didn't know bras even existed in the fifteenth century. And you only like it for the sex scenes too! You make me sound like a perv."

"Well, they are very tastefully done."

Ginny got up from the bed and moved over to her closet. She pulled her shirt over her head, unbuckled her belt, and shimmied off her jeans. She dug out one of her comfiest, and rattiest, Ts, a Holyhead Harpies training shirt, and pulled it over her head.

She walked back into the kitchen to toss out the empty bottle. There, she recognized a familiar pecking at her window and looked up to see Pigwidgeon tapping at the glass furiously.

She quickly moved over to the window to let him in. He flew to the table to drop the letter and then swept right back out the window. Ginny noticed he had other letters attached to his leg and assumed he had other messages to deliver.

She opened the envelope to see a letter from Hermione

_Ginny, _

_Sorry it's taken me so long to write back to you! I've been so busy with Rose and Ron's absolutely hopeless! I know you hate it when we interfere with your love life but I met someone who'd be absolutely perfect for you! He plays Keeper for the Tutshill Tornados, he's got a great sense of humor, and he's an absolute dear. Charlie's a big fan of him so you know he can't be all bad. Anyway, please think about it and let me know if you're interested. _

_All my love,_

_Hermione_

Ginny sighed and quickly wrote out her response, which in quick terms said that she loved Hermione and couldn't wait until she got to see her niece again. She also made sure to include that she had no problems with her love life as it was and she appreciated Hermione's help but would a find a man on her own. Not to mention, she was more worried about making it to the playoffs that year than finding a boyfriend.

As she finished up the letter, Draco yelled out, "Could you get me some more of that mead?"

"You're missing a word at the end of the question."

"No I'm not."

"Oh, yes you are. You're supposed to add please when you request things. It's called being polite."

"Unfortunately for you, Malfoys don't say please. My hands are tied."

"Well, then, you'll just have to come get it yourself."

"Hmm. Well, that's no fun. How's this? Could you get me some more of that mead, _s'il vous plaît?_"

"Seriously?"

"I think I'm allowed to say it in French."

"Wow." Ginny shook her head in disbelief. Sometimes Malfoy was just unbelievable.

She quickly signed '_Love, Ginny' _to the end of her letter, folded it, and put it to the side. It would have to be sent off with Oliver in the morning, as he was snoozing on his perch and Ginny knew better than to mess with his beauty rest.

She grabbed a drink for Draco and an extra one for herself and went back to sit on her bed.

"Now what am I supposed to read?" Ginny asked out loud.

Draco put his arm around her and pulled her close. With his other hand, he gently took the drink from her hand. "I don't mind if you read with me."

"You shouldn't; it's my book."

"It's a good thing I don't mind, then."

Ginny sighed and leaned into his warmth. He always seemed to get his way.

Draco turned the page and continued reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Title: Wards  
Rating: M  
Genre: Romance  
Summary: "Don't you have plans?" "They can wait." Short pieces examining various moments within Draco and Ginny's unorthodox relationship.

A/N: Any reviews are appreciated!! I also haven't started writing the next chapter yet so plot bunnies and suggestions are also welcome.

And many hugs and kisses go out to my fabulous beta, Melisse.

* * *

Ginny was not looking forward to this. She looked into her mirror, surveying her appearance, and quirked her head. She had on a simple black cocktail dress that hit just below her knee. It was conservative yet form-fitting, but Ginny was not aiming to be the belle of the ball at the night's event. The annual Women of Quidditch benefit was a fundraising event that helped raise money for the Children's Dragonpox Foundation at St. Mungo's.

Despite its supposed fundraising nature, the benefit was really an opportunity for the rookie female Quidditch players to announce themselves to the other female players in the league. Because, as Ginny had been surprised to find out, aside from the all-female Holyhead Harpies, there were very few women who played professional Quidditch. Most teams had about thirty players, but there were typically only three to five women on each team, an appallingly low number. In fact, Ginny had started with the Chudley Cannons but had had herself traded to the Harpies after she realized her coach was a misogynistic prick.

Ginny hated that she needed to attend tonight's benefit, but as a starting chaser for the Holyhead Harpies, it would be noted if she didn't show. She picked at her hair, trying to figure out what would be the best way to wear it. She didn't want to do something too fancy. She'd been playing professional Quidditch for five years and even though she was a starter and a top player, tonight wasn't about her; tonight was for the rookies. Eventually, she swept up of the top half of hair into a bun and left the rest of her hair down. Satisfied, she moved over to her fridge to grab a drink. She was waiting for her date, but she knew Callum: he was bound to be late.

Callum Hanson, one of her old teammates and a keeper for the Chudley Cannons, was accompanying her that night. They had both joined the team at the same time and bonded over the excruciating training techniques of their beast of a captain. They were going as friends, as he was one of the few guys she knew (besides her brothers, of course) who wouldn't interpret her inviting him to the event as a date.

He was already fifteen minutes late, but she had expected that. Callum was chronically late for everything. Finally, after another ten minutes, she heard her doorbell ring. She peeked through her window to see Callum standing outside, looking handsome in a pair of black dress robes. She buzzed him into her building.

When he knocked, she immediately swung her door open, and with a large grin on her face stated, "You are late, Callum Hanson."

"I know; I'm horrible!" he exclaimed with a roguish grin, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Are you ready to go? This is the best event of the year to pick up hot ladies and I want to get a head start," he added with a wink.

Ginny smiled. "Of course. And you should know that tonight I shall be the most excellent wing man. Get excited."

They walked down the stairs arm in arm and apparated to the banquet hall in Diagon Alley.

---------------

Ginny walked in and whistled. The annual Women of Quidditch benefit was mostly an event to honor the new faces in Quidditch and, as such, the new players were there to be seen. And almost seventy-five percent of the rookies were wearing dresses that barely covered their asses. As always, the best way to get noticed was to wear something scandalous.

"Is this a new trend?" Ginny asked. "I haven't been following fashion recently."

Callum sighed dreamily. "Oh, I hope so."

Ginny grinned. "So, you need to clear me up on your qualifications so we can get you the perfect woman. Are you looking for the naïve rookie who's just trying to get her foot in the door? Or are you going more for the experienced, yet jaded, pro? Choose wisely, young Hanson."

"Definitely going for naïve. I like to be the reason they decide not to date Quidditch players anymore. I'm a teacher, you see?"

"How kind of you," Ginny deadpanned with a smile.

Callum's voice lowered and he pointed at a crowd of people in the corner. "Check out the rookie du jour!"

Ginny turned to see Amelia Bradsworth, the self-proclaimed hottest rookie in Quidditch. Amelia had appeared on the cover of last month's Witch Weekly holding nothing but a conveniently placed quaffle and was gaining quite the following. She was a tabloid regular due to her fashion sense and choice of dating partners, both of which left much to be desired. She routinely decided to wear as few clothes as possible and her attire that night was no different. Amelia's dress was flaming red and almost nonexistent. It was skin-tight, extremely short, and it pinched at the top.

And on Amelia's arm was Draco Malfoy, probably the most eligible bachelor in the wizarding world.

Ginny sighed inwardly, though she had somewhat expected this. Draco attended each and every Women of Quidditch benefit with a different rookie every year. Ginny assumed this was done mostly to piss her off. It usually worked, not that she'd ever let him know it.

Callum tugged on her hand.

"Come on, Gin, you've got to introduce me. I don't play her team until next month," Callum whined.

She really didn't want to do this.

"Let me at least get a drink in me first," she said.

"I'll grab you something!" he said and then rushed off.

Ginny sank against the nearest wall and sighed.

She wasn't surprised that he was here, but she'd assumed that he'd lie low this year, considering that he had only recently broken up with Cho, in a rather violent incident at Florean Fortescue's that dominated the tabloids for days. Ginny hadn't heard a lot about the break-up but she had woken the next day to a sleeping Draco curled around her, snuggling her closely. Later that morning, when she opened her paper to a picture of Cho throwing a Thousand Wishes Sundae at Draco's head, she promptly spit out her coffee and showed him the picture. He merely laughed and continued to read the business section.

Ginny chuckled to herself, remembering the bizarre experience. She looked up briefly to see Amelia's arm around Draco's waist tighten, as she leaned in to give Draco a quick kiss somewhere between his cheek and his mouth.

Ginny frowned slightly and turned her head to see Callum returning with a glass full of brown liquid.

Remembering her future task, Ginny took it from him, chugged it and coughed. "What did I just drink?"

"Well, you were supposed to sip on that. That was the Ogden's Holiday Special Firewhiskey," Callum said with a frightened look on his face.

"Delicious," she deadpanned. "And now to introduce you to the lady of the hour."

Ginny took his hand and guided him through the thick crowd. Within seconds, they found themselves on the outskirts of a small group that surrounded the admittedly attractive couple of Draco and Amelia. Amelia leaned into Draco in obvious attraction.

After a few minutes, the group had thinned to only a few couples. Callum whispered, "Is this even going to work?"

Ginny squeezed his hand. "Did you forget that I am the ultimate wing man?"

Callum smiled and tightened his hold on her hand in obvious anticipation. Ginny turned her head toward him and smiled. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "And I'm sure he's just her arm candy. You totally have a shot."

He looked back down and smiled at her hopefully. She grinned back and when she turned her head toward the couple in front of them, she saw the crowd had completely dispersed and that Draco Malfoy was looking at her curiously.

Ginny smiled politely back at him and tugged Callum forward. "Amelia, so good to see you! How are things?"

Amelia and Ginny gave each other the perfunctory pecks on the cheek and smiled lightly at each other. They had met each other briefly and Ginny had decided that Amelia was an acceptably nice, if not slightly shallow girl.

"Wonderful! It's so great to be here!" Amelia replied.

"Of course!" Ginny continued to smile as they exchanged pleasantries.

"Ah! How rude of me, Amelia! This is my good friend Callum Hanson. I don't know if you've gotten a chance to meet him yet. He plays keeper for the Chudley Cannons."

As soon as she heard this, Amelia turned on a dazzling smile. "Callum Hanson! I've heard so much about you! It's nice to finally meet you!"

Callum blushed and smiled shyly—so much for being the experienced Quidditch player who takes advantage of the naïve rookie. At this point, Callum was going to be the one who was taken advantage of.

Ginny smirked as Amelia continued to speak. "And this is my good friend, Draco Malfoy."

Draco put on a slightly vapid smile. "I believe we went to school together."

"We did. It's good to see you again, Draco," Ginny replied.

"Of course. How've you and your family been?"

Ginny smiled congenially, putting on the smile she typically reserved for press. "Good, they're good!"

She couldn't believe that out of all things, he was asking her about her family. Ass.

Amelia put a hand on one of Callum's arms and asked, "Why don't we let them catch up with each other. Would you like to come with me to grab a drink, _Callum_?" Amelia said Callum's name softly, lowering her eyelashes as she did.

Callum blushed and let her lead him away.

Ginny smiled at their retreating backs and noted to Draco, "Your date's awfully friendly."

"If anything, she's trying to learn about their new plays for the upcoming season."

"Good thing no one really tells them to Callum until the days leading up to the game, for this very reason. He's a sucker for a pretty face. You should probably go tell your date she's wasting her time."

"Probably." At this he took a sip of his drink and leaned against the wall. Ginny moved to the side of him to do the same.

"So where'd you find this one?" she asked.

"She found me, actually."

"Really? That's new!"

"Well, I ran into her at one of Blaise's mother's parties and she mentioned that she was in the market for some serious arm candy. How could I refuse?"

"How, indeed? Well, at least she's got a respectable job this time." Draco had a tendency to date models who could barely add two and two together.

"Now that's just you being biased."

Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw a photographer she recognized from the Daily Prophet. Not wanting to end up on the cover of the gossip section, she turned her back to the reporter and moved over so it looked like Draco just happened to be leaning against the wall while she, coincidentally, was picking out some delicious hors d'oeuvres from the scrumptious selection.

Draco's eyes narrowed slightly at her sudden movement. "I didn't realize you were so into miniature hotdogs, Ginny."

"They're delightful," Ginny replied, ignoring his mood swing.

Every once in a while, Draco would do this. He would show his emotional attachment and although Ginny was glad that he was getting in touch with his softer side, it was not something that she appreciated.

"Well, when you're done pretending like you don't know me, I'll probably be smoking Elvish weed with Aidan Lynch in the bathroom," Draco said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Have fun," Ginny muttered.

Okay, so she had been somewhat rude, but he really needed to learn to not take these things so personally.

"Men," Ginny muttered to herself and walked over to say hello to a few of her teammates.

---------

An hour passed and Ginny was bored out of her mind. This was her fifth benefit and besides the new rookies, who were being fawned upon by the adoring press, it was the same old people and the same old speeches. They even had the same food as last year; apparently the caterers had never heard of variety. The only thing making this night bearable was the abundance of free drinks.

And Romilda Vane's presence was only making the night worse. Romilda Vane, current Daily Prophet reporter and former classmate of Ginny's, had engaged Ginny in an extremely long and boring conversation by the bar. Ginny downed a shot of firewhiskey, hoping to at least blur her vision and, hopefully, later, her memory of this horrible night. Perhaps an increased amount of firewhiskey in her bloodstream would make it easier to tune Romilda out.

No luck. As the bartender walked by, Ginny muttered out of the corner of her mouth, "Keep them coming." She pushed a Galleon for a tip in the bartender's direction.

He quickly placed three consecutive shots in front of Ginny.

"Good man," Ginny sighed.

Unfortunately for Ginny, Romilda Vane couldn't take a hint, and she also didn't know how to talk about anything besides herself. Ginny found herself unable to interrupt Romilda's nonstop stream of chatter.

"And you know, I learned a lot from working in the Culinary Section. Sure, it's not the most glamorous job, but it was a great way to get my foot in the door—"

Ginny quickly downed another shot; she had to get out of this.

She slowly began shuffling towards the exit. Romilda followed her. She ended up engaging Romilda in a slow walk and talk. She was hoping that this walk and talk would lead her outside the banquet hall, where she would apparate away once Romilda turned her back.

"—and by the time I moved into the Features section at the Prophet, I was working my way up the professional ladder! You of all people know how hard it is to be a professional woman—"

"Hmm, really?" Ginny shuffled beside Romilda, trying to steer her in the direction of the nearest exit. They neared a suspicious-looking velvet curtain that almost certainly concealed a drunk rookie making her first public mistake.

"And that's when I decided I needed a new wardrobe!"

"_Someone, please!!_" Ginny thought to herself.

A hand snaked out from behind the curtain and grabbed Ginny around the waist, pulling her behind its safety. Romilda Vane continued to walk, unaware that her companion was nowhere to be found.

Ginny found her back leaning against the wall and tilted her head up to look into the grey eyes of her savior—Draco Malfoy.

"Pulling me behind a curtain at a crowded event where we're most likely to get caught, how dramatic of you," Ginny stated sarcastically.

Draco grinned wolfishly. "Well, your books have been teaching me that a man must be spontaneous when romancing the heroine."

Slightly disconcerted, Ginny responded, "Yes, I'm sure Amelia would enjoy your newfound expertise."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure she took your boy home for the night."

"Callum? Really? Good for him!" she said excitedly.

"Good for him? What about me?"

"Aw, I'm sure you'll be just fine."

Draco pouted.

Ginny smiled slightly and moved up to give him a brief peck on the cheek.

"Better?"

"Not yet."

She smirked and Draco's mouth captured her lips swiftly. He moved his lips against hers and nibbled on her bottom lip. Ginny's back pushed off the wall and she pressed her body against his. One of his arms wrapped around her waist as the other delicately swiped her hair off of her neck.

He continued to kiss her as his hand dropped from her waist and wormed its way up her skirt. Draco's lips left hers and he enveloped her earlobe.

Ginny stifled a moan. Her hand lightly rested on his chest and she fingered the fabric of his dress robes.

Breathlessly she asked, "Why do guys get to wear dress robes when we have to wear tight dresses? These things are so hard to get off."

"That's the least of your problems," Draco mumbled and he renewed his ministrations to her ear.

Ginny's head leaned back against the wall and her hand found its way to his shoulder.

His lightly palmed her bum. His hand continued to move until one of his fingers found its way inside her drawers. He began to lightly finger her slit.

At his touch, Ginny gasped out loud, drawing the attention of one of the coaches for the Irish National Team, who threw an odd look at the lumpy curtain and moved in the opposite direction.

Her hands began to fumble against his dress robes, which seemed to be of the fancy and complicated variety. "Seriously, how do you get this off?" she muttered.

Draco ignored her to move his mouth to her neck.

Her hands moved along the fabric looking for a zipper, a button, anything. She found a seam and went with it. With a vicious pull she ripped the front of his dress robes open.

"Wha—" Draco pulled back to survey the damage. "This was woven with thirty percent real veela hair," he pouted.

"I'll make it up to you."

Ginny's hands moved down his newly released body until she reached into his adorable boxer briefs to find a Draco ready and waiting for her attention. She lightly stroked his erection.

Draco groaned and let his body fall against hers, pressing her further into the wall. Ginny grinned slightly and let her hand envelop his length. She began to slowly pump him.

Draco breathed hotly onto her neck. Ginny whispered into his ear, "I love exhibitionism as much as the next person, but I'd rather not do this in a room full of people I have to play against in the upcoming season."

Draco continued to press kisses against her throat. "You'd think that'd be a good thing. Then they'd just imagine you naked and keep dropping the Quaffle."

"Right into my hands, of course."

"Of course."

Ginny giggled lightly into his chest. Between her laughs she vaguely noticed that Draco had brought out his wand. Draco pressed a searing kiss into her mouth and used the wand to apparate.

After a familiar squeezing sensation, she opened her eyes to see Draco had apparated them into her flat.

"Unfair! Why do you get to apparate in the banquet hall? I thought there were wards up!"

"I'm Draco Malfoy. Plus I own that building."

"So unfair," she repeated.

He pushed against her and they both fell lightly on the bed, his body pinning hers.

Draco responded with a grin. "I know, right?"

* * *

A/N: Review please!! Help me get my creative juices flowing for chapter 4!!


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